Cong to counter BJP bid to tarnish PM’s imageNew Delhi, August 8The Congress is all set to launch a blistering attack against the BJP for questioning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s credentials as a Sikh following the UPA government’s response to the Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

New Delhi, August 8
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today dismissed fears of the Opposition that the India-US defence cooperation was loaded in favour of Washington and reasserted that through the Defence Framework Agreement the attempt was at securing latest technology for Indian Armed Forces.

Pranab Mukherjee

India, Pak agree to 6 military CBMsNew Delhi, August 8India and Pakistan took yet another significant step forward in their ongoing peace process as the Second Round of Expert Level Talks on Conventional Confidence Building Measures today resulted in the two sides agreeing to six military CBMs, including continuation of the military ceasefire, in force since November 23, 2003.

Demand for Greater Nagaland to fore
50-day successful blockade
Imphal, August 8
The 50-day-long successful economic blockade by the All Naga Students Association of Manipur, which began on June 19 in Manipur, is more of a political problem than merely an administrative one.

Mulayam springs surprise, seeks vote
of confidence
Lucknow, August 8
In a surprise move, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav sought a vote of confidence on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha on Monday causing bete noir BSP supremo Mayawati to declare that the present government’s days are numbered.

Bihar poll in Oct-Nov, EC hints to SC
New Delhi, August 8
The Election Commission today indicated in the Supreme Court that elections to the Bihar Assembly could be held either in October or November.
EC counsel S Murlidhar told a Bench of Chief Justice R C Lahoti, Mr Justice C K Thakker and Mr Justice P K Balasubramanyan that “election cannot be held in September, but it can be held either in October or November.”

Inmates of the central prison in Bangalore stage a mythological play on Monday.
The show was organised by Karnataka Prison Department and Kuvempu Kalaniketan with a motto to transform prisons into
curative and correctional centres.
— PTI

An Army jawan stands guard at the Guwahati railway station in Assam on Monday. Security has been alerted after a series of bomb blast by suspected ULFA militants in Assam. —
PTI

Houses for tsunami-hit to be ready by mid-Sept
Chennai, August 8
The first batch of houses for tsunami victims in Tamil Nadu is likely to be ready by mid-September and the government hopes about 50 per cent of the damaged houses would be completed by the end of the year, Tamil Nadu Commissioner for Relief Administration R. Santhanam said here.

Corruption “thwarting” pace of China’s economy
Chennai, August 8
Corruption and red tape in bureaucracy are the main obstacles against economic development and attracting foreign investment in China, said Mr Wang
Jinzhen, Assistant Chairman of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade.

Move to devise rain forecast model
New Delhi, August 8
India is working with the USA and Britain to devise an improved weather prediction model with which it can explore the possibility of predicting torrential rains in the hilly areas and also high impact events of the kind that resulted in the monsoon mayhem in Mumbai.

Postings: Centre made party to Punjab’s SLP
New Delhi, August 8
The Supreme Court today made the Centre a party to Punjab Government’s appeal, challenging the high court order for divesting of non-IPS cadre officers in the state police force from sensitive postings like the district police chiefs and directed it make its stand clear on the issue.

Home Secretary to visit Manipur
New Delhi, August 8
The Centre today said it was monitoring supply of essential commodities in Manipur following the blockade of National Highway by a group of Naga students.
Home Secretary, V.K. Duggal said he would visit the state soon to ascertain the
situation.

Economy fine: ChidambaramNew Delhi, August 8Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today asserted that the economy was showing an upswing and all parameters were recording higher growth as compared to those in the previous year.

Introduce forest Bill: tribesmen
New Delhi, Aug 8
Calling themselves as victims of misinformation spread by environmentalists, tribals’ representatives today said that forest dwellers, particularly tribesmen, were not responsible for the destruction of forests or reduction in the number of endangered wildlife species in the country.

Govt not to reduce fee of IIMs
New Delhi, August 8
The government was not considering any proposal to reduce the fee charged by the Indian Institutes of Management, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

5 youths scolded for troubling Zinta
Mumbai, August 8
The Mumbai police has picked up five youths, including two employed with a mobile phone company, for making prank calls to actress Priety Zinta.

Man bobbitised for love affair
Muzaffarnagar, August 8
Refusal to discontinue a love affair with a girl led to a young man being ‘bobbitised’ allegedly by those opposed to the relationship, the police today said.

A child takes a
closer look at flowers during a flower show in Bangalore
on Monday. — Reuters

New Delhi, August 8
The Congress is all set to launch a blistering attack against the BJP for questioning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s credentials as a Sikh following the UPA government’s response to the Nanavati Commission report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The party has taken a conscious decision to go on the offensive when this matter is discussed in the two Houses of Parliament as it believes the BJP will use this issue to tarnish Dr. Manmohan Singh’s otherwise unblemished reputation among the Sikhs, who had revised their opinion about him and the Congress after he took over as Prime Minister. The Congress has not taken kindly to BJP’s personal attack against the Prime Minister with some of its members going to the extent of saying that his image as a Sikh has taken a beating.

The Congress also believes the party need no longer be apologetic or defensive on the issue of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The fact that the enquiry commission, set up by the previous NDA regime, has completely exonerated the Congress party and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of any involvement in the riots will be ably highlighted during the debate.It has already rejected demands for the resignation of Union Minister Jagdish Tytler on the ground that the Commission has not indicted him.

The party’s response on this issue was discussed and finalised this evening at the meeting of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee, which was chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Home Minister Shivraj Patil briefed the meeting about the Nanavati Commission’s key observations and also explained the government’s response as contained in the
ATR.

Although the Congress has decided not to dilute this debate by bringing up the Narendra Modi government’s involvement in the Gujarat riots, individual members are bound to rake it up during the course of the debate. “We don’t want to be accused of politicising the issue but it will prove difficult to rein in the speakers,” remarked a senior Congress leader.

Although Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma reiterated that there was no reason for Mr Tytler to resign since there was no evidence against him, there is a growing feeling in the party that he should be dropped at a later stage as his continuance in the Cabinet was embarassing the party. The Prime Minister, it is learnt, has never been comfortable about Mr Tytler’s inclusion in the Cabinet.

New Delhi, August 8
Rajiv Gandhi, who took the reigns of prime ministership after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, was given a clean chit by the Justice Nanavati Commission along with the then Home Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao against their alleged role in anti-Sikh riots.

The Commission did not agree that Rajiv Gandhi would have ever made a statement that “ Yes, we must teach them a lesson.”

“There is absolutely no evidence suggesting that Rajiv Gandhi or any other high ranking Congress (I) leader had suggested or organised attacks on Sikhs. Whatever acts were done were done by local Congress leaders and workers. And they appeared to have done for their personal reasons.

“The evidence on the other hand suggest that Rajiv Gandhi had shown much concern what was happening in Delhi. He had issued an appeal for remaining calm and maintaining communal harmony,” the Commission has concluded.

Also exonerating Rao of the charges of being “indifferent” to the public complaints for taking immediate action when large scale violence had broken out in the city, the Commission said, “it is of view that there was no delay on indifference at the level of Home Minister” in dealing with the situation.

The Commission also has discussed the event of stoning of the then President Giani Zail Singh’s car at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) around 5 pm on October 31, when he had visited the hospital where badly wounded Indira Gandhi was shifted, but it has refrained from making any further observations on this incident.

New Delhi, August 8
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today dismissed fears of the Opposition that the India-US defence cooperation was loaded in favour of Washington and reasserted that through the Defence Framework Agreement the attempt was at securing latest technology for Indian Armed Forces.

Asserting that India would never compromise its national interests the government said: “The understanding between two countries to cooperate in multinational operations is bilateral and will be dependent on the consent of both sides. There is no obligation on India to send troops for operations where it does not want to.”

Replying to a debate on the new framework of the Indo-US relationship in the Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: “There is no question of compromising our national interest and sovereignty as this agreement is only a framework and not binding on us. It is only an enabling provision to be used in our national interest.”

He said India suffered due to the disintegration of the Soviet system and asked if “we explore alternate sources of defence systems and technology, what is wrong in it”.

He was of the view that alternative sources of defence equipment and technology should be explored.

Further assuring the BJP-led Opposition parties, which have criticised the government for the agreement, he said the defence agreement was within the framework of the country’s foreign policy.

He said while the situation had changed only after 9/11, he carried no ideological baggage while building new defence relationship with the US, which was “guided by the requirement of the forces to modernise themselves”.

Mr Mukherjee said the framework was nothing but minutes of meeting between US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and him. “It is an extension of the minutes (of the defence cooperation) agreed in 1995 and which were reviewed in 2005,” he said.

Earlier, initiating the discussion Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh said India should safeguard its interests while fighting terrorism and acquiring high technology under the defence cooperation pact with the US.

Sounding a warning that the US was a divided house on international aspects, Jaswant Singh said India should tread a cautious path to ensure its interests were protected. “I have not seen US as internationally divided as I have seen it today,” he said.

He asserted that the much-talked-about New Step in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) between the two countries should be taken forward only after consensus. He said the US government took active decisions only in the first two years of its rule.

He, however, welcomed the defence cooperation with the US and said it was a continuity of the earlier government’s policy. He added that the India-US defence cooperation pact was a worthwhile agreement.

New Delhi, August 8
India and Pakistan took yet another significant step forward in their ongoing peace process as the Second Round of Expert Level Talks on Conventional Confidence Building Measures today resulted in the two sides agreeing to six military CBMs, including continuation of the military ceasefire, in force since November 23, 2003.

However, Pakistan did not agree to some ground-breaking CBMs suggested by India, like setting up hotlines between the two countries’ Vice Chiefs of Air Force and Navy, top sources told The Tribune.

The Pakistani side raised the issue of parity with the Indian conventional forces which India rejected summarily. The Pakistanis also wanted India to cut down its troops in Jammu and Kashmir and bring it at par with the level of Pakistani forces, but India rejected this saying this was primarily because of unabated acts of cross border terrorism and infilitration.

The following six CBMs were agreed to by India and Pakistan:

Reaffirmed their commitment to uphold the ongoing ceasefire.

To implement the 1991 Agreement between Pakistan and India on Air Space Violations in letter and spirit.

Upgrade the existing hotline between the two DGMOs by the end of September 2005.

Speedy return of inadvertent line crossers and to work out a comprehensive framework to that end.

Of these, the one relating to flag meetings between local commanders is a new proposal and a step forward. The most crucial of these CBMs — continuation of the military ceasefire — was a mere reiteration at today’s talks by the two sides as the decision had been taken at a much higher level. The point about no new posts and defence works along the LoC is too an old CBM and excludes LoC fencing from its purview, primarily because fencing is a defensive mechanism and not an aggressive military posture.

Today’s talks, though held in a “warm and cordial atmosphere”, betrayed a restricted approach by the Pakistanis towards the peace process. The Pakistanis have agreed to some of the most elementary forms of military CBMs like holding of flag meetings but have serious reservations of any regular contact in a casual manner.

The two sides agreed to periodically review the existing CBMs and exchanged views on various proposals which both sides had put on the table. The two sides also agreed to report the progress made in the present round of talks to the respective Foreign Secretaries, who will decide on the date and venue of the next Expert Level meeting on Conventional CBMs.

Mr Dilip Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, led the Indian side while Mr Tariq Osman Hyder, Additional Secretary (UN&EC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, led the Pakistan delegation, Both sides exchanged views on their respective security concepts.

Imphal, August 8
The 50-day-long successful economic blockade by the All Naga Students Association of Manipur (ANSAM), which began on June 19 in Manipur, is more of a political problem than merely an administrative one.

The blockade has only brought to fore the aspirations of Nagas regarding proposed Greater Nagaland, which includes the Naga-dominated areas of Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, as raised by the NSCN (IM).

The development in Manipur assumes significance as the ANSAM is enjoying the
strategic support of the NSCN (IM) which is now using the democratic forum to advance its cause for
Greater Nagaland after failing to persuade Delhi on the same.

The Centre may feel elated over the biggest-ever peacetime Army operation by airlifting essential commodities into Manipur on Saturday.

But the reality is that both the Centre and the Manipur Government have not only failed to come up with a formula to resolve the imbroglio, but also remained mute spectators to the blockade.

This despite the fact of the Centre having the back-up support of a huge
contingent of the Indian Reserve Police Battalion, the CRPF, the Manipur Police and other forces.

For the NSCN (IM), it is a strategic victory by pursuing its demand through the ANSAM in a democratic manner, which is expected to help it to broaden its mass-base further.

The problem began in June when the Manipur Government declared June 18 as the "State Integrity Day" to commemorate the June uprising in 2001 when the Centre wanted to extend the ceasefire with the NSCN (IM) beyond Nagaland.

The basic target of Delhi in extending the ceasefire beyond Nagaland in respect of Manipur was the Naga- dominated surrounding hills in the state.

After all, the Senapati district of Manipur represents the hometown of NSCN(IM) general-secretary T.Muivah and other NSCN (IM) leaders.

While 'meities' in Manipur were happy with the state
government's declaration of June 18 as the "State Integrity Day", as it virtually rejected the demand for greater Nagaland by NSCN (IM), including the Naga- dominated areas in Manipur, there was a counter-reaction from the Nagas.

From June 19, the ANSAM started the economic blockade on NH-39 and NH-59 connecting Manipur with Nagaland and Assam.

Lucknow, August 8
In a surprise move, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav sought a vote of confidence on the floor of the Vidhan Sabha on Monday causing bete noir BSP supremo Mayawati to declare that the present government’s days are numbered.

Soon after the House met on the concluding day of the monsoon session, the CM sought the opinion of the House regarding the privatisation of the loss-making sugar mills run by the Sugar Corporation.

Receiving the members’ support to strive for leasing out of these loss-making mills, the CM sprung a surprise when he sought voting on a one-line motion, “Yeh sadan mantri parishad mein vishwas rakhta hai” (This house places its confidence in the Council of Ministers).

Leader of the Opposition, BJP’s Lalji Tandon, BSP leader in the Vidhan Sabha Swami Prasad Maurya and Congress legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari in unison wanted to know the need for such a vote. “Is the government feeling threatened in spite of a majority?”, Mr Tandon queried.

Senior BJP member Hukum Singh wanted to know from the Speaker if he had any inkling of such a motion being introduced. Even before a flustered Speaker could respond, the leader of the House Mulayam Singh Yadav said that the vote had been sought to ensure the support of the House to move ahead with the resolve to respond to the problems facing the state.

Amidst protests demanding running of the House under proper rules, the motion was passed through voice vote. Coming in between a discussion on the privatisation of the sugar mills, some members were under the impression that it was that very motion on which opinion was being sought.

In a hurriedly called press conference at her house, Mayawati said the manner in which the ruling alliance had sought a vote of confidence without warning meant that Mulayan Singh Yadav was not sure of the future of his government.

Demanding to know why Mr Yadav sought a vote of confidence, when the Opposition parties had not demanded it, Mayawati charged that “on one side, the Chief Minister never tires of claiming that he has an absolute majority in the House and on the other, he seeks a vote of confidence”.

Asking him to have faith in the courts, Mayawati said the case of the 40 rebel BSP MLAs at present being heard at the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had given him the jitters.

The former Chief Minister also asked the governor to stall all major decisions being taken by the present government till the high court judgment on the rebel BSP MLAs case was delivered.

New Delhi, August 8
The Election Commission today indicated in the Supreme Court that elections to the Bihar Assembly could be held either in October or November.

EC counsel S Murlidhar told a Bench of Chief Justice R C Lahoti, Mr Justice C K Thakker and Mr Justice P K Balasubramanyan that “election cannot be held in September, but it can be held either in October or November.”

A categorical statement was made by EC counsel when the Bench sought to know the plans of the EC, while hearing two petitions challenging the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly.

Thought several writ petitions had been filed on dissolution of the Bihar Assembly, two of the petitioners had sought stay of the elections till the dissolution case is decided by the apex court.

Attorney-General Milon Banerjee said that the Government would like the matter to be heard by a 11-Judge Bench.

But the court said that it would depend how “forcefully” the Union Government makes its case for referring it to 11-judge Constitution Bench.

The Union Government had earlier taken a stand that Bomai judgement’ would not apply to a situation like Bihar, where the assembly was dissolved even before members took oath and any government was formed, whereas the Bomai case pertained to dismissal of a Chief Minister.

Chennai, August 8
The first batch of houses for tsunami victims in Tamil Nadu is likely to be ready by mid-September and the government hopes about 50 per cent of the damaged houses would be completed by the end of the year, Tamil Nadu Commissioner for Relief Administration R. Santhanam said here.

He said, “We are trying to provide houses to all those living in temporary shelters now as early as possible. As much of the construction is being handled by non-government organisations, it is not known when all of them will be completed, but the first houses could be ready by the middle of September.”

Briefing the media on the inauguration of the Tamil Nadu Tsunami Resource Centre here, he said, “Our objective is to construct at least 40 to 50 per cent of the houses by December.”

According to official figures, 8,066 persons died in the December 26 tsunami last year in Tamil Nadu and millions were rendered homeless as their houses were destroyed. About 70,000 permanent houses are now needed and land had to be acquired for the purpose.

Around 70 to 80 per cent of land acquisition in the worst affected districts of Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Kanyakumari has been completed. Mr Santhanam said, “The land acquisition has been going on well and we are in the process of registering the transactions and handing over the acquired land to the NGOs.”

He said in this state capital land had been identified for acquisition and the process would be finalised next month so that permanent housing construction could begin soon.

He pointed out that according to the state government’s policy, land had been acquired from a range between 200 and 500 metres from the high tide line and the fishermen community had accepted it. “The government’s policy on the distance from the sea for people to be permitted to reside is very liberal and it is in favour of the fishermen. There will be no eviction,” he said.

But for those living within 200 m from the high tide line the state government was trying to convince them that they move to safer places as the vulnerability of this area had been proved.

Mr Santhanam said, “We are prepared to construct houses at a cost of Rs. 5 lakhs each for those willing to move out of the area but they can continue to stay there if they want.”

Talking about the revival of fishing in the tsunami-hit districts, he said 90 per cent of the fishermen were back in the sea and the number of boats had actually increased.

He said the state government had issued orders for spending Rs 1,050 crore for tsunami rehabilitation and recovery efforts and had already disbursed Rs 800 crore. A sum of Rs 625 crore had come from the Centre, and Rs 150 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. “We have sanctioned more than what we have received,” he added.

Chennai, August 8
Corruption and red tape in bureaucracy are the main obstacles against economic development and attracting foreign investment in China, said Mr Wang Jinzhen, Assistant Chairman of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade.

Mr Jinzhen is part of a business delegation which attended the Confederation of Indian Industry’s conference, here.

Talking to The Tribune exclusively, the 48-year-old member of the Communist Party of China admitted that corruption existed in China and said: “Corruption is there all over the world and we too are part of it. It is one of our shortcomings but the Chinese Government is very strict. It will take sometime for us to reduce it and make the business environment better. Otherwise no foreign company will come to China.”

He said the Chinese Government was trying to ease red tape in the bureaucracy which had seriously affected foreign investments.

Ten years ago in Shanghai, which is the hub of foreign companies in China, an official approval for a small project could be checked by more than 20 different governmental sectors and each one could have a chance to stop it with or without any reason.

Mr Jinzhen said since China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, at least 300 rules and regulations related to business and investments had either been abolished, amended or totally changed.

Regarding the opening up of the Chinese economy to the global markets, he said: “We are very cautious in our approach. We have to and we are opening up gradually. We need to test the water first since we do not have much experience of conducting private businesses.”

Citing the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, he said: “We are very much committed to Communism but do not want to make such a mistake. That is why we are opening our doors to foreign investors gradually keeping in mind needs of our economy.”

Mr Jinzhen felt India and China togther could turn out to be an IT superpower.

‘You have the software and we have the hardware. If we join hands then none in the world can compete with us. If India imports hardware from the West it will not be economically feasible for India.”

New Delhi, August 8
India is working with the USA and Britain to devise an improved weather prediction model with which it can explore the possibility of predicting torrential rains in the hilly areas and also high impact events of the kind that resulted in the monsoon mayhem in Mumbai.

The aim, says official spokesperson of the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) Akhilesh Gupta, is to get the capability of predicting Mumbai-like high impact events in advance so that safe shelters for people in the affected areas can be arranged

“Several lives are lost during sudden high-intensity rains in the hilly areas in both north-eastern and north-western parts of the country. With this model we can also explore the possibility of predicting heavy rains in the hilly areas within 24 hours, at least,” he said.

To improve its medium range and short range predictions, for which the NCMRWF is responsible for in the country, it was working on the High Resolution Numerical Weather Prediction (HRNWP) Model in collaboration with the National Centre for Environment Prediction and the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in the USA and the United Kingdom Meteorological Office and the Medium Range for Weather forecasting in Britain, Dr Gupta said.

But for the model to become completely operational and able to capture intense rainfall activity in hills and Mumbai-like short duration torrential rains the Centre need to acquire a high-performance computer, which it was likely to either acquire from the USA or the Center for Development of Advanced Computation in Pune where an indigenous effort in this direction is also going on.

He, however, said it was high time that the country had an integrated disaster management plan so that warning generated through these predictions could be translated into action by the civic authorities and disaster managers.

For this, the system should be integrated with appropriate disaster management plans to avoid confusion during warnings and planned action before and after it happens.

While what happened in Mumbai, where 94.4 cm rain was recorded in eight hours, is the rarest of rare events that occurs perhaps once every 100 years, sudden intense rains, measuring more than 50 cm, are comparatively more common, especially in north-eastern and the north-western parts of the country.

New Delhi, August 8
The Supreme Court today made the Centre a party to Punjab Government’s appeal, challenging the high court order for divesting of non-IPS cadre officers in the state police force from sensitive postings like the district police chiefs and directed it make its stand clear on the issue.

While impleading the Union Government as a party to the Punjab Government’s Speci Leave Petition (SLP), admitted by the apex court on January 13 for hearing, a Bench of Mr Justice Ashok Bhan and Mr Justice S.B. Sinha gave liberty to the state government to file an application for stay of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s August 9, 2004, order, if it so desired.

As Punjab’s Additional Advocate-General Atul Nanda sought stay on the high court’s directive, the apex court told him to file a formal application in this regard.

The state government was further directed to file counter affidavit to the reply of the opposite litigating party.

On January 13, the apex court had refused to stay the high court order but permitted the Punjab Government to appoint non-IPS cadre officers to the “sensitive” positions such as district police chiefs along with the IPS officers.

New Delhi, August 8
The Centre today said it was monitoring supply of essential commodities in Manipur following the blockade of National Highway by a group of Naga students.

Home Secretary,
V.K. Duggal said he would visit the state soon to ascertain the situation.

The Home Secretary, who chaired a high-level meeting in which Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of Manipur, Nagaland, and Assam participated, said the essential supply were being maintained in the state though the stocking of petroleum products and LPG was bare minimum.

Senior Army officials and personnel of Border Roads Organisation were also present at the meeting.

Referring to the opening up of an alternative National Highway for continuous supply of commodities to Manipur, Mr Duggal said Army and other para-military officials had been asked to provide adequate security to BRO personnel for repairing the bridges on this highway.

He said the highway was being opened after some years and there could be a few problems. But all the problems will be sorted out, Mr Duggal said.

New Delhi, August 8
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today asserted that the economy was showing an upswing and all parameters were recording higher growth as compared to those in the previous year.

“In fact, the growth rate was more than 9.6 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year,” Mr Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha while replying to the debate on supplementary demands for grants (General) for 2005-06 and excess demands for 2002-03.

The Finance Minister also allayed fears that the Golden Quadrilateral
(GQ) Project, launched by the NDA Government, had been scuttled and announced that the first phase would be completed by 2007. — UNI

New Delhi, Aug 8
Calling themselves as victims of misinformation spread by environmentalists, tribals’ representatives today said that forest dwellers, particularly tribesmen, were not responsible for the destruction of forests or reduction in the number of endangered wildlife species in the country.

“The MoEF is responsible for the destruction of the country’s green cover by officially sanctioning the conversion of forests for non-forest activities”, they said.

Tribal representatives from all over the country were meeting in the Capital at a two-day national consultation to discuss the controversial draft forest rights Bill and demand its introduction in the monsoon session with their
declarations and recommendations.

New Delhi, August 8
The government was not considering any proposal to reduce the fee charged by the Indian Institutes of Management, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development
M.A.A. Fatmi said in a written reply that the government has accepted the collective decision of all six IIMs that no student would face any difficulty in pursuing education at their institutes for want of financial resources.

In this regard, they have decided to provide need-based financial assistance to both the first and second year students whose annual gross family income is Rs 2 lakh and below, amounting to full tuition fee waiver, he said.
— UNI

Mumbai, August 8
The Mumbai police has picked up five youths, including two employed with a mobile phone company, for making prank calls to actress Priety Zinta.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Amitabh Gupta told reporters here that some youths had obtained Zinta’s mobile phone number from their friends employed with a mobile phone company and called her claiming to be Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan.

The police gave the names of the youngsters as Arif
Mirza, Mohsin Farooq Sheikh, Tausif Patel, Uday Nikalje and Silven Lobo. The boys were called to the local police station and let off with a stern warning.

The police said the boys did not have a criminal record and were indulging in harmless fun.

While Arif was based in Pune, his friends were from Mumbai. Arif had given his mobile phone number to his friends to let them call
Zinta.

Mohsin Sheikh and Uday Nikalje were employees of a mobile phone company and had passed on Zinta’s number to their friends.

The police began investigations after the actress filed a complaint earlier this month.